Tired Nadal loses in Rio semis to Fognini

RIO DE JANEIRO: After 52 straight semi-f inal claycour t wins stretching back 12 years, top seeded titleholder Rafael Nadal saw his streak end Saturday, exiting the Rio Open to Italian Fabio Fognini.

Fog n i n i, who had lost h i s fou r pr ev iou s me et i n gs w it h t he 14 -t i me g ra nd sl a m champion, won 1- 6, 6 -2, 7- 5 to reach a Sunday f inal against Spaniard David Ferrer.

Second seed Ferrer reached t he t rophy match w it h a 7- 5, 6-1 win over Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer.

“I played well in the first set but lacked tactical and physical c ont i nu it y t her e a f t er,” s a id Nadal.

“It was very humid out t here a nd I got t i re d much quicker than normal. I started cra mpi ng as wel l - - wh ich i s very unusual for me,” said the Spanish star.

Nada l, who on ly c a me of f cour t at 3:3 0 am a fter F r iday night’s quarter-final win over Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas, was visibly fatig ued, allowing his early momentum to slip as he crashed out after 2hr 17 min.

“I am very pleased as I played the best in the world on t h is su r face. T h is is my best career win to date,” said 28thranked Fognini, seeded four at the event whose inaugural edition Nadal won last year.

That success was a building block early in a clay season wh ich wou ld cu l m i nate i n a ninth Roland Garros title, but a series of injuries thereafter hampered Nadal.

The Mallorcan came to Brazil on the back of a poor start to the year after a first round exit i n Qatar and a quarter-final loss at the Australian Open.

Nada l was fu r ious a f ter he was forced into a late night start Friday with all four quarter-finals played on center court and all going the distance.

Fognini’s last eight meeting with Argentine Federico Delbonis l a ste d more t h a n three hours before the Aust ra l ia n Open doubles champion alongside compatriot Simone Bolelli emerged a 6 -4, 6 -7, 7- 6 winner.

It wa s t he It a l i a n’s f at i g ue wh ich showed ea rly on as Nadal blitzed him in the opening set. An early break in the second looked as if the titleholder would emerge victorious.

Instead, a double fault a l lowe d Fog n i n i a to e hold . He threw that one away in m i s si n g a si mple vol ley but thereafter the momentum swung i nexorably his way with a trio of breaks seeing the Italian level matters.

Nadal tried to dig his way out of trouble in the decider as, trying to avoid a f irst loss in 21 matches in Brazil, he began to run out of juice as Fognini took the honors on his third match point.

After pushing Nadal deep, he saw t he Spa n ia rd’s wea k backhand return clip the tape and the Italian just made up the ground as he just managed to reach a low, stabbed volley to complete the win.

Next week’s AT P event i n Buenos Aires will offer a cha nce of some redempt ion as Nadal looks to f ind his top form in time for more glory in France come early June.

Ferrer twice dropped serve against Haider-Maurer in a tight opener on center court at the swish Rio Jockey Club but the Spaniard moved through the gears to break i n the 11th game and then motored through the second set.

Ferrer is 7-0 against Fognini in previous meetings ahead of the f inal.

The women’s final will pitch 16th-ranked Italian Sara Errani, the top seed, against 75th-ranked Slovak Anna Schmiedlova on Sunday.

Er ra n i c a me past fifthseeded Swede Johanna L a r s s on 7- 5 , 6 - 3 wh i le si x t h seed Schmiedlova shocked second-seeded Romanian hope Irina Begu 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. - AFP